A Reason to Keep Going
by RayvnAshes2
Summary: Hayden, age 6, is lost in a forest after escaping her uncle. Starving and injured, she's transported via magic circle to the Fairy Tail guild hall, where she finally gets the family that she's always craved and learns a different kind of magic. Rated T, fem!Harry, pairings undecided for the most part, and possible yaoi/yuri in later chapters. Main story abandoned for now.
1. Running Away

**Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.**

**Enjoy!**

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"GIRL!" a booming voice shouted, almost shaking the house down to its foundations.

A small girl, no older than five years old, curled up in a fetal position, ears covered with her tiny hands in an attempt to make everything go quiet again. Why couldn't Vernon speak at a normal volume?

Moments later, the girl squinted as a dim light (though still too bright for her) intruded her cupboard. It took a second for her eyes to adjust, and once they did she looked up, shaking a bit, to see that her 'uncle' had opened her cupboard and was snarling at her maliciously. She took her hands away from her ears, knowing that not listening to the man would only make whatever he was going to punish her for (why else would he bother with her?) worse.

The man didn't say a thing, however, and the little girl made a noise of surprise when she found herself being grabbed around her shoulder and yanked out of her little 'safe' haven. Vernon started mumbling incoherently, and the little girl's fear grew worse as he dragged her out of the house and shoved her into the car. An hour later, Vernon pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out. He looked around for a moment, and was satisfied to see nothing but woods around them. He yelled for the girl to get out, and she did, trembling. He jerked his head towards the trees and began walking, not looking at the girl but expecting her to follow.

The little girl, Hayden (as her aunt had let slip once), bit her lip, terrified. Was her uncle finally going to do what she feared he would and kill her? Nothing good could come of this, she knew, and so…

She ran into the forest in the opposite direction, ignoring the man's shouting from behind her.

Hayden gasped for breath, having run for her life when she saw a hunter in the woods near where she had been resting. She had been in the woods for three days, and had taken to eating roots and bark to keep herself from starving to death. Luckily she had found a stream to get the dirt off, first.

Unfortunately, five year old girls (or any human, really), couldn't survive on that kind of sustenance for very long, and Hayden's energy levels had been steadily declining since the night she ran away from her uncle. If she didn't find food soon, then she'd never be able to make it.

That night, if one were to look, they would see a little girl collapsed on the ground, exhausted and starved. They would also see a strange bright light, and a flash before it disappeared, taking the girl with it.

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**Hope you liked it! I'll post the next chapter or two tomorrow, based on reviews! *wink***


	2. Arrival at Fairy Tail

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.**

**Okay, apologize for not getting this up as quickly as I said I would. For some reason my internet connection was on the fritz for the last few days, and before that, I realized right after I posted the first chapter that I had somehow managed to delete the second, which I had written already. I know. *Face-palm*. So I had to re-write it. I do have the third chapter written, and I'll probably post it either tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on reviews ('please update soon' isn't exactly motivating my dear readers).**

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Located in the country of Fiore, in a country where magic is a common feature in daily life, there are some people who dedicate their lives to magic. These 'wizards' form guilds, expanding their power and knowledge. One of these guilds stands above all the rest, creating legends, and it shall likely continue to do so for many years to come. This guild is called _Fairy Tail._

Their part in this story begins on a day like any other. Many of the guild's members are in the guild hall, business going on as usual. Two boys, one with pink hair and the other with blue, lie on the floor, groaning in pain as they try to recover from the force that had just ended their fight. An older girl, Erza Scarlet (named for her hair), is responsible, scolding the two as she shakes her head in annoyance. She ends up in an argument with a white-haired girl called Mirajane, and as they begin insulting each other the others in the guild look on, shaking their heads.

The two previously fighting boys scowl in annoyance. Erza would hurt them if they fought and weren't 'best friends', but her rivalry with the demon Mira was acceptable? What a hypocrite.

The guild master, Makarov, came downstairs, intending to end the girls' fight before they destroyed the entire building. He was about to say something, when suddenly a bright light engulfed the hall, blinding the members temporarily. When the light receded, they all opened their eyes to see what had caused it, and were shocked.

A young girl was on one of the tables, where she definitely hadn't been before. She had long black hair, and wore dirty, worn clothing. She was very thin, and seemed to be getting paler by the second.

"Erza." Makarov said, pulling himself out of his shock. Obviously, this girl, whoever she was, needed help.

"Yes, Master?" the redhead asked, still staring at the girl who looked to be much younger than her.

"Go retrieve Porlyusica. Explain as best you can what just happened." He replied. She ran off, not needing to be told to hurry.

"Macao, Wakaba, go get as many blankets as you can find." The master continued. The aforementioned men went off to do just that. 'It's probably best not to move her, but she should be comfortable.' He thought, before noticing the younger generation in the guild moving slowly towards the girl.

They all froze when the girl moved, shivering as the cold winter air hit her. Natsu, the pink haired boy, hesitantly stepped towards her. Makarov was about to stop him, until he saw the boy's aura flare, his fire magic radiating heat from his body, not hot enough to harm the girl, but enough to keep her warm. He watched, tears starting to form, as the rambunctious brat sat down quietly on a chair next to her, the girl's shivering already starting to stop.

"She's going to need something to eat. Something light." Mirajane said suddenly, eying the girl's frail and thin figure. With that, she and her little sister Lisanna went to the kitchen to prepare something.

A moment later, the two men arrived with as many blankets as they could carry. Natsu picked the girl up as the two arranged a makeshift bed for her on the table, setting her down when they were done.

That seemed to spurn the others into action. Cana took a comb out of her little bag, gently brushing the girl's hair, untangling the knots and doing her best not to rouse her from her unconscious state. Levy sat next to the girl on her other side, and began reading to her from the book she'd been reading before the girl appeared. Natsu stayed where he was on her opposite side, keeping the girl warm and, though he wouldn't admit it, listening to the story the blunette was reading aloud. Gray went to retrieve a pail of warm water, and when he brought it back, both he and Natsu worked together to wash away the dirt on the girl's arms, hands, and face.

Makarov watched this all with a smile, loving how his guild was taking care of the new girl without being prompted to do so. It wasn't the strength of their magic that made their guild so special, but their kind and caring hearts.

In the back of his mind, however, he wondered how that bright light had brought her to them.

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**Reviews?**

**Oh! I received a comment asking me not to put Hayden with Natsu from the get-go, give her a chance to meet other guys and all that. If it was anyone else (character-wise, not the reviewer), I would agree completely. However, Hayden (even Harry in the series) is more the type to just fall in love and stay in love with the same person for the rest of her life. Now, I don't like the Harry/Ginny pairing, but whatever. That's not to say that Hayden and Natsu won't be oblivious or that there aren't going to be other people crushing on them, and who says they're getting together right away? Natsu's about 7 or 8 right now, and Hayden's a bit younger than that.**


	3. Magic is Real?

**Sorry I'm a couple hours late, I forgot.**

**Anyway! I don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.**

**Shout out to bunnymage, thanks for letting me bounce my ideas off of you and offering some of your own. As your ideas come to fruition, I shall give credit accordingly. :)  
**

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"This girl is lucky to be alive." Porlyusica murmured to Makarov, who grimaced. "She is too small for her age, I believe her to be around six and a half years old, maybe seven-"

"She doesn't look older than five." Makarov muttered, eyes dimming as he thought about what might have led the girl to be in this condition.

"Yes." Porlyusica said shortly, not appreciating the interruption. "She is malnourished, and likely hasn't eaten very much in the last week besides the broth. Her body temperature was also declining dangerously, and had it not been for the boy's quick solution she might have fallen ill with fever or hypothermia."

"Good. Can we do anything to…heal…the malnourishment?" he inquired.

"Besides making sure that she consumes as much food as a normal child her age should?" Porlyusica said bitterly. "Make sure that it's healthy. I'll give her a tonic that should help make up for the lack of vitamins. Her skin, teeth, and bones should become healthier after a time."

"Something is wrong with her bones?" Makarov asked nervously.

"Yes. They're a bit too brittle, and will be easier to break if something isn't done about them." The healer answered. "Aside from that, have her take it easy physically for a while."

"And, if she happens to have magic?" Makarov asked with an eyebrow raised.

"In her current condition, if she does do magic, suppressing it would be more harmful than letting it out." She admitted reluctantly. "When she arrived, I noticed that she already had a magic suppressant, which I removed so that it wouldn't interfere with her healing. She will likely have more than one bout of uncontrollable magic in the next few months."

"Who would do that to a child?" the old man asked, trying to contain his anger. Suppressing a person's magic could easily kill them, and to do such a thing to a _child…_

"I do not know." Porlyusica answered calmly, though she was internally seething. This was why she _hated_ humans. "I could, however, sense that there were no familial ties between the girl and the one who put the seal on her magic." Makarov's eyes narrowed in anger.

There was only one possible reason that suppressing a person's magic was in any way acceptable by _any_ mage, whether they were from a legal or dark guild. Sometimes a child's magic could do them harm, either due to the kind they wielded, or the power, and the parents would put a mild dampener on the child until they grew up enough to wield it without being a danger to themselves or others.

However, that apparently wasn't the case here. Porlyusica told him that the seal had been placed on the girl about five years ago. The girl couldn't have been even two at the time, and even if the parents had wanted the seal put on her, keeping it on for so long could easily destroy both her mind and her grasp on her magic.

If he ever found out who had done such a despicable thing to an innocent child, he would do everything in his power to make sure that they were _punished_ accordingly. He could ask Laki (sadistic even at such a young age) for some ideas, too…

He was brought out of his musings by a tiny whimper, and he turned in the direction that it came from. He examined the girl closely, not even considering the fact that Porlyusica might have been the one to make the noise.

The tiny girl's finger twitched, and suddenly her eyes shot open and she sat up with a gasp. She bit back a cry of pain, clutching her newly bandaged wounds, as she looked around the guild hall's infirmary wildly.

"Calm, child." Porlyusica said softly, attracting the small girl's attention. Both Porlyusica and the guild master were struck by how bright the child's green eyes were. Makarov privately bet to himself that the girl would eventually be a real heart-breaker. "You are safe now. We will not hurt you."

"Who are you?" the child inquired softly, fearfully. "Where am I?"

"My name is Porlyusica." The old woman responded. "I am a healer. This old coot here is a friend of mine. His name is Makarov. You are in the Fairy Tail guild's building, in the infirmary."

"A healer?" the child blinked, turning her attention to the bandages scattered in various places on her body. "Oh. Thank you. I'm sorry to be an in-inconvenience." She stumbled over the word a bit, too young to be able to pronounce it very easily.

"You are not inconvenient, child." Makarov responded carefully, making sure not to let any of the anger he was feeling be heard. From the girl's reaction, she had been neglected by her previous guardians, if not abused.

The girl didn't know what to say to that. Her aunt and uncle had always hated the fact that they were stuck taking care of her, and always made sure that she was well aware of that. To hear that not everyone thought of her as such (as the little old man hadn't seemed to be lying) was a bit overwhelming for her.

The two adults watched her, concerned, as she blinked away tears. She couldn't show such a weakness in front of these wonderfully kind people. Tears always got her in even more trouble with her aunt, though Vernon seemed to thrive on them.

"What's a guild?" the little girl asked curiously, thinking back to Healer Porlyusica's answer of where she was.

"A guild is a group formed by mages, to help them make a living, get stronger, and become the person they were meant to become." Makarov kept it shorter than he usually would, as he noticed that the girl looked like she would fall back asleep at any moment.

"A…mage?" the girl was confused.

"A mage, also known as a wizard, is a human being with the ability to use magic." Makarov explained, wondering how the girl couldn't know that already. Then again, she might have been brought here from a place without magic. No, that didn't make sense. The girl had magic, and so did whoever put the seal on her.

"Magic?" the girl suddenly got wide-eyed. "But…magic isn't real. My aunt and uncle said so." Well, from that they could guess that her parents were out of the picture.

"It is, child." Porlyusica said. "We have it, and so do you. Have you ever found yourself being able to do something that you couldn't explain? Perhaps when you were sad, or scared?"

The girl bit her lip thoughtfully, pondering the question.

"Well…a few things might have happened." The girl said. "Once, when I was running from my cousin and his gang of bullies, I tried hiding behind something, and I ended up on the roof. I don't know how."

"Your magic must have reacted to your wish to get away from those chasing you." Makarov told the child gently. After a moment, the girl's face brightened considerably.

"Could I do more magic?" she asked excitedly.

"You could learn. There are many different styles of magic, though most of them take a while to get very good at." Makarov explained to the child.

"And…could I find a teacher at one of those mage 'guilds'?" the girl asked.

"Possibly, depending on what type of magic you wish to learn." Makarov agreed. "I run a magical guild, myself. We wouldn't mind having another member to add to our family."

"Family?" the girl said wistfully. "That sounds really nice. Are you sure that I could join?"

"We would love to have you. When we found you, everyone in the guild was worried, hoping that you would be okay, and they hadn't even met you yet." Makarov answered, smiling a bit sadly at the child. Family was something that everyone should have happy memories of. "Oh! Heavens, I forgot to ask your name."

"It's Hayden." The newly-named girl answered shyly as she ducked her head, black hair falling to hide her face. After a moment, she looked up. "Just Hayden."

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**Reviews! I need them. I need them or I will explode. That happens to me sometimes. (INVADER ZIM reference!)**


	4. Making Friends

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.**

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"Why is she so quiet?" Gray muttered quietly, glancing at the new girl. He blushed as he remembered thinking that she was pretty. After she had regained consciousness and got back from Porlyusica's, at least.

"We all saw how she got here, Gray." Cana said, rolling her eyes at him before looking at the girl with a sympathetic glance. "Master told us that she was brought her from some other _world_. That's a lot to take in, and she's only been here for a few days."

"Give her a chance to adjust." Levy agreed, glancing at Gray from behind her book. "Still…" With that, she caught Cana and Lisanna's eyes, nodding in the direction of the new girl ever so slightly.

She got up, tucking her book under her arm, as she went to sit with the new girl, Hayden. A moment later she was joined by Cana and Lisanna.

"Hello." She greeted the girl with a warm smile, to which the girl returned nervously. "My name is Levy."

"I'm Lisanna, and she's Cana." Lisanna said, motioning to the other girl as her name came up.

"Hayden. It's nice to meet you." The girl responded, eyes brightening a bit.

"So, how do you like Fairy Tail so far?" Cana asked curiously.

"This place is wonderful!" Hayden said with a gasp of awe, before she blushed slightly, embarrassed. "It's so different than what I'm used to."

"What was the world that you came from like?" Levy asked, ever the inquisitive one. Hayden bit her lip, pondering the question.

"Well, I suppose magic exists in that world, since apparently I have it." She mused. "But I think the people who can use magic are hidden away from everyone else. Porlyusica told me that my parents were mages, but they died when I was a baby. After that, I lived with my aunt and uncle, who really didn't like even hearing about magic, or anything they didn't think was normal."

"That must have been hard." Lisanna said sympathetically. "My parents died when I was little, too. My brother, Elfman, and my sister, Mira, take care of me."

"My mom died a few years ago." Cana added. "And my dad…doesn't know I exist. My mom left him before I was born." She was startled that she had actually just told someone that, much less a stranger, but she doubted any of these girls would tell anyone or judge her for it."

"My parents are researchers." Levy spoke up, feeling a bit guilty. Her parents were still alive, while her friends' weren't. "They're in Egypt on a job, but they couldn't bring me with them, so I came here with their permission."

"Egypt?" Hayden asked, perking up. "There's a place called Egypt where I come from, too."

"Really?" Lisanna asked, surprised. "What do you know about it?"

"It's supposed to be really hot, and there's a huge 'sea' of sand for as far as the eye can see!" Hayden responded, remembering how she heard one of her aunt's friends say that after going there for work. "I've never been there, but it sounded pretty cool. There are pyramids, where old pharaohs are buried when the die, and tombs riddled with traps. Well, that's what I was told, anyway." She said sheepishly, kind of embarrassed again.

All three of the other girls' eyes were wide.

"That sounds a lot like this world's Egypt!" Levy said, full of awe. "I wonder how many similarities your world has to ours."

Hayden shrugged, not really having a clue. She'd spent a good part of her time in a cupboard, and she wasn't allowed to watch the telly unless it was in class. "There are these things called cars, which are a lot like the things people here drive. Master Makarov told me they're powered by magic power?" The girls nodded. "In my world, they're powered by something called fuel. I'm not really sure what it is, only that it's brought up from the ground and it smells bad." She wrinkled her nose, and the others laughed.

Eventually, the conversation moved on to magic. Hayden was in awe when she saw Lisanna suddenly turn into a purple bunny, and she squealed in surprise when Cana and Levy demonstrated their card and solid script magic respectively.

"What kind of magic do you want to learn?" Lisanna asked, blue eyes curious.

"Well…I don't really know." Hayden mumbled, glancing up at them. "Your magic abilities and Master Makarov's are the only ones I've really seen up close. I don't know what anyone else here uses."

"Well, we can help with that!" Levy chirped, turning around on the stool to face the rest of the guild hall. "Let's see…" her eyes wandered around the room before she spotted someone. "There's Reedus! He uses Pict magic, where he can bring his drawings to life! He was really skinny, but he asked Master to use Titan magic to expand his torso so that he can use himself as a canvas."

"Woah!" Hayden said, wide-eyed. Bringing drawings to life sounded amazing!

"And there's Elfman and Mira!" Lisanna said, pointing to her siblings. "Elfman uses Beast Take Over, and Mira uses a few different kinds of Transformation magic, including Demon Take Over." She was about to say more, but Mira got into a fight with Erza, so she moved on.

"The redhead is Erza." Cana continued. "She uses Requip magic. Basically, she stores things in her own little pocket dimension and can bring them out at will." Hayden perked up a bit at that. She could have used that power to get food when she lived with the Dursleys.

"There's Natsu and Gray, too." Lisanna motioned to the two boys, whose fight had instigated the one between Mirajane and Erza.

"Natsu uses Fire Dragon Slayer magic." She muttered. "He was apparently raised by a dragon, before the dragon had to leave and Natsu came here. Gray uses Ice-Make magic. He's pretty good at making weapons with it."

Hayden looked amazed that apparently the pink-haired boy had been raised by a dragon, but shook it off. So many interesting types of magic, and those were only the people in the guild hall right at that moment!

What should she choose?

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**Review please!**

**And I've already decided what magic style(s) Hayden will learn, so her question at the end was rhetorical. ;)**


	5. POLL! NOT A CHAPTER!

**AN: NOT A CHAPTER! Just a poll!**

**WizardShinobi: As for it being too early to have already determined who I'm going to pair Hayden with…yeah, I think I agree with that, I shouldn't have bothered. As for putting up a poll to decide who she might be with later on, I'll start that now and in a few chapters it will end. That's not to say that I'll go with that pairing, I will just take it into consideration.**

**bunnymage: I still have all of the pairings we were talking about in mind, especially for Hermione and Luna. Just thought I'd give another guy a chance at Hayden's heart. **

**So! Everyone else: who do you want to see Hayden with? Gajeel is off-limits, because I like him with Levy, and Laxus is unlikely because I like him with Lucy. Or Ron, because I don't like him. Anyone else is fair game, for the most part.**

**Suggestions: Zeref, Gray, Mystogan, Bickslow, Natsu, someone from the HP universe...**


	6. Happy-ness and Tragedy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Fairy Tail, etcetera**

**Poll CLOSED! I'm still leaning towards Mystogan, Zeref, or both of them, but I'll consider other options as the story goes on. **

**Enjoy!**

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_As the years went by…_

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Hayden giggled with Levy and Cana as the little blue 'dragon' landed on Natsu's head.

Lisanna raced towards her make-believe 'husband' gently removing the odd flying cat and hugging him towards her chest.

"Let's call him Happy!" she suggested to Natsu. "Because that's what he made us!"

"Yeah!" he agreed with a wide smile.

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"Hey, Levy!" Droy called.

The small blue-haired girl turned towards the two boys with odd haircuts.

"Yes?" she asked quietly.

"Team up with us!" Jet suggested.

"Uh…um…" Levy frowned a bit.

She didn't really want to team up with them. She's heard their discussions about trying to find another team member, and were only asking her because they didn't think that she'd say no.

(AN: I'm not being harsh, that's just what it seemed like to me during that episode where Team Natsu went to the past for the day and we got to see everyone when they were younger. It was later on that their crushes on her started.)

"Sorry boys, Levy-san already agreed to team up with me for a while." A voice came from behind, and Levy turned to see Hayden smiling at the boys apologetically.

"Oh." Jet said, shoulders slumping a bit. "Okay."

"Maybe next time." Droy agreed.

And they left, muttering about asking Laki.

"Thanks." Levy said with a sigh of relief, turning back towards her friend. "I wasn't sure how to turn them down nicely."

"Not at all! Of course, now that means we'll have to go on jobs together for a while." Hayden said with a laugh, winking at her.

"R-really?" Levy asked, wide-eyed. "Are you sure? I'm not very strong…"

"That's fine, neither am I!" Hayden assured her. "We'll grow stronger together!"

Levy grinned at her, though she didn't think the other girl was giving herself enough credit. With how much she trained and how many different types of magic she dabbled in, she was practically on the fast track to becoming an S-Class mage!

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Hayden stared down at the ground as her mind whirled, trying to register what she was being told.

'What is this pain in my chest?' she wondered absentmindedly. 'Oh. I need oxygen.'

She breathed in through her nose.

It didn't help.

She brought her hand up to cover her mouth in an attempt to hide the sob that escaped.

Three days later she stared at Lisanna's coffin being laid into the ground.

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Hayden walked towards Levy, before sitting at the bar next to her and laying her head down at the table.

"I miss her." Levy said with a sad sigh, being sure to speak quietly enough that Mira couldn't hear her.

The older girl had started working at the bar. After all, she couldn't make a living taking missions that required magic, since her grief and guilty conscious had caused her magic to leave her. Elfman was having similar issues.

Hopefully they would get better.

"So do I." Hayden said sadly. "I hate seeing the people around me get hurt."

"And losing someone is even worse." Levy murmured, wiping away a tear.

The two girls were quiet for a long minute.

"You know what this means." Hayden said. "We need to get stronger so that this doesn't happen to our nakama again."

Levy turned, looking her right in the eye before giving her a determined nod.

From across the room, Natsu could hear their conversation. The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of Lisanna's loss, but he couldn't turn off his dragon slayer senses.

He froze thoughtfully as he heard Hayden's declaration.

She was right. The stronger they were, the harder it would be for someone to hurt them.

He'd better get training.

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**Please review!**

**You guys will find out more about Hayden's magical abilities later. Just note that it's not unusual for mages to be able to use more than one type. Erza, Mira, Laxus, Makarov, Mystogan, Natsu, Freed, and Evergreen, for example. **

**I was tempted to let Lisanna stay, but I realized that Hayden logically wouldn't have been anywhere near where the Strauss siblings were when she 'died.' Oh well, she'll be back later on.**

**And yes, that's right-there will be no Team Shadow Gear. While I love the name, I really don't like Jet and Droy. They're annoying, a bit possessive, and I don't want them trying to mess with Gajeel and Levy's budding attraction any more than necessary when Gajeel eventually shows up.**


	7. Dumbledore Finds Out

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter.**

**Warning: Dumbledore bashing (not too intense, but it's definitely there)**

**Enjoy!**

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"Hagrid." Dumbledore greeted the half-giant warmly. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Of course, sir!" Hagrid said, beaming.

"Ah, good, good." Dumbledore said with a sigh. "It would seem that Hayden Potter hasn't answered her Hogwarts letter. I was hoping that you could go pick her up and take her on her first trip to Diagon Alley. And perhaps pick up something for me at Gringotts…"

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"Albus Dumbledore, sir!" Hagrid shouted, bursting into the Headmaster's office in a panic. "Hayden isn't with the Dursleys!"

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked, confused. "Did she refuse to go back to stay with them once your trip was over?"

"No, sir." Hagrid denied, wringing his hands nervously. "She wasn't _there_! The Dursleys told me that she ran away when she was five and they haven't seen her since!"

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Snape froze as he listened to the disgusting filth spew crap about the Potter brat running away despite what they'd done for her out of 'the goodness of their hearts.'

That phrase alone raised an alarm for Snape, who'd heard something similar from his abusive father for many years.

Well, fuck. This wasn't going as planned.

Luckily, Severus was a renowned potions master, and what kind of potions master would he be if he didn't carry a phial of truth potion with him everywhere he went?

By the time he had milked all of the information he could out of the Dursley family, he was just about ready to torture them to death.

He wouldn't even use magic. Maybe he would have to look into some of the torture techniques people used in Greek and Roman times, surely they would be brutal enough?

Anyway, more on that later.

The large one who looked like a walrus had apparently dragged Potter out in the middle of the night and driven her to the middle of nowhere, fully intending to kill her and dump her body in the woods. The girl (apparently not as stupid as Snape would have thought) realized that something was up and manage to escape when her 'uncle' wasn't looking.

That was nearly six years ago.

Severus felt weak as the enormity of the situation dawned on him.

Chances were very, very slim that Potter had survived a few nights, much less this long. Lily's daughter, the little girl that he had sworn on his life that he would protect to the best of his ability, had most likely been dead for years.

Lily's daughter, gone…

And Albus was the one to place her in that situation…

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"She's dead." Snape announced without preamble as he entered the Headmaster's office.

He hadn't expected the rest of the staff to be there when he arrived, but that was fine.

"Who is dead?" Pomona Sprout asked, alarmed.

Snape stared at her for a moment before answering, ignoring Dumbledore signaling him not to do so. "The Potter girl."

Minerva immediately dropped her tea cup, which shattered on the ground. Everyone else was silent.

"What?" Filius Flitwick asked after a long minute, horrified. "How do you know?!"

"The girl hadn't responded to her letter, and the Headmaster sent Hagrid to retrieve her. Hagrid reported that the girl wasn't with her muggle family, so he sent me to investigate…" Snape began.

"Severus!" Dumbledore said. "Surely this isn't the time—"

Snape ignored him. "The girl's uncle apparently grew tired of having to deal with her accidental magic, and decided to get rid of her. He drove her out to the middle of nowhere, and…"

He trailed off, allowing them to draw their own conclusions.

Honestly, it was probably better for the girl if everyone assumed that she was dead, if she had managed to survive. Especially if this was where Dumbledore's 'protection' had gotten her.

"Well then we must go search for her!" Charity Burbage exclaimed, not quite believing that the Girl-Who-Lived had been killed by a muggle.

Even if she was the Muggle Studies professor, even she felt that witches and wizards were superior.

Seeing everyone get excited, Snape took pleasure in bursting their bubbles. "This was over five years ago. No one has seen her since. Chances are that her body was buried in the woods, or that it was eaten by wild animals."

They would have commented on his dismal statements, but they couldn't.

After all, it was more than likely. What kind of five year old could survive a murder attempt?

Well, considering the child in question, that sounded stupid.

Rephrase—if she _had_ survived the murder attempt, how could she have survived in the wilderness for so long?

As Dumbledore saw his staff members get ready to confront him (after all, he had always insisted that the girl was safe where she was), he subtly fingered his wand.

Just as they were about to come out of their stupors…

"_OBLIVIATE!"_

* * *

Albus scowled darkly.

How dare that muggle upstart ruin his plans?

All he had to do was keep the girl alive until it was time for Hogwarts. That was ALL he had to do, and he couldn't even do that?!

Now, thanks to him, Albus' plans were ruined. As much as he loathed to admit it, Severus was probably correct. The chances of the brat still being alive were so small that he couldn't even bring himself to hope for it.

Luckily, he didn't have to rely on hope.

His eyes glinted maliciously as he gazed at the silver instruments on his bookshelf, whizzing and moving like normal. If the girl was dead, surely they would have stopped, considering they were connected to her?

Hayden Potter might very well be alive.

The question was: where had she been all these years, and how would he find her?

* * *

Severus glared darkly at the wall to his office.

Did Albus really think that his Occlumency was so rudimentary that it couldn't counteract a simple memory charm?

* * *

**Please review!**

**Sorry, I would've posted this earlier, but I was busy. **

**I just spent the last few days at an anime convention! Todd Haberkorn (Natsu), Jamie Marchie (Cana), Monica Rial (Mirajane), Ian Sinclair (Bora), Eric Vale (Loke/Leo)…all of them were there. Oh, and the guy who plays Goku, Sean Schemmel, but I don't watch Dragonball Z so that didn't really mean anything to me. **

**Yes, I prefer the dubbed anime, at least when it comes to series that have a lot of action, because I don't want to miss out. Sorry to all of you SUB OR DIE people out there. **

**Anyway. Todd Haberkorn did Natsu's Fire Dragon Roar in one of his panels. Absolutely the highlight of the weekend for me. It was loud and powerful and absolutely amazing to hear in person. Just…wow. It doesn't matter whether you love, like, or hate Natsu. It was amazing regardless.**

**Todd and Sean's autograph lines were absolutely insane. Like, wrap around the stadium insane. I never got why autographs are such a big deal so I didn't bother, but it was entertaining to see people wait in line for hours. **

**Jamie and Monica are awesome and hilarious individually, but it's like tenfold when they're together. I would totally recommend going to their panels if you guys ever go to a con, **_**especially**_** if they're both there. Ian was incredibly funny, especially after he drank a Monster during the panel. Eric was also hilarious, especially when he started doing impressions of Todd when he was late for his panel due to the long autograph lines. **

**Anyway, it was a long weekend. Lots of driving, dealt with parking garages downtown, huge crowds, Todd and Eric not being able to make it to some of their panels due to flight delays and other reasons that we can't blame on them (not that we would), lots of people in awesome/insane/scary/disturbing cosplay… **

**Seriously though, some of the people who were cosplaying dressed up as Elsa, Jack Frost, Belle, characters from Adventure Time, etcetera…seriously?! It was an ANIME convention!**

**On the upside, I saw…2 Erza's, 1 Jellal (in the Segrain outfit), at least 5 Levy's, 1 Gajeel, 1 Freed, at least 3 Lucy's (one of them in her GMG outfit), at least 5 Natsu's, 1 Rogue, 1 Laxus, 1 Gray, 2 Juvia's, 2 Happy's, 1 Cana, and 1 Wendy. Way more Fairy Tail characters than I saw last year when I went to this convention. Fairy Tail is taking over the world, and I couldn't be prouder!**


	8. Enter: Mystogan

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"WHAT?!" Mystogan gasped in shock, shooting out of his chair and knocking it over. Not that he noticed.

He was currently standing in Makarov's office, having been called in for a private meeting. Mystogan had been curious, but he hadn't expected something like this.

"Hayden is also from another world." Makarov told him sympathetically, understanding his shock. First Porlyusica, then Mystogan, and now Hayden…

"But she joined the guild years ago!" Mystogan said, aghast. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"We needed to do some research about her home dimension so that we would have answers for the questions I'm sure you're about to ask." Makarov answered dryly.

Mystogan flushed, admittedly having a few questions.

Then again, who wouldn't?

"Does she have a counterpart here in Earthland?" he began, figuring that he might as well get it over with.

"Not as far as we can tell." Makarov denied. "We studied the magic circle that brought her here for years, and we never saw any indication of that. Our worlds are similar in a few ways, but not the people who reside in them. They have the same constellations. Their geography is similar, based on young Hayden's memories, though the places have different names. There was magic in that world, but it worked differently and magic-users were hidden from the rest of the world. They had different creatures and animals. Dragons are still around in their world, but aren't nearly as powerful and intelligent as the ones from Earthland were."

As you could probably imagine, it took a very long time and some very skilled analysts to be able to determine this information from the trans-dimensional magic circle. No wonder it took so long.

"Does she use magic differently than we do?" Mystogan asked, fascinated.

He was also a bit envious of the girl. He had to hide his face because of his counterpart, Jellal, but she was able to be her own person.

"Well, there are a few things she can do that I haven't seen anyone else do." Makarov admitted. "She's the Snake Charmer, for one thing."

That was only one of Hayden's little 'nicknames', but that was the one that would give Mystogan the most information.

"She can understand snakes?"

"And can speak to them in return." Makarov corrected. "She's had the ability since before she came to us. It's definitely a magical ability, but it doesn't use up any of the magic from her core."

"Do you have any idea why?"

"We believe that the magic-users in that world were able to channel the magic in their environment through foci, like wands or staves. They didn't store the magic inside their bodies, it was just there for them to take into their bodies and then channel through their foci when needed."

"Does she need a focus?" Mystogan asked.

"Not exactly…" Makarov trailed off. "Using a focus helps her, but isn't strictly necessary. Her trip to this world seemed to change her body's constitution so that she would use magic sort of like people from her home world, but mostly like we do here in Earthland. She has a magical core, but she already had her second origin."

Mystogan's eyes widened. "Did something trigger it?"

Makarov was silent for a long while. "You'll have to ask her."

"Master, you know that I can't talk to anyone here—" Mystogan started, before being cut off by the old man.

"That's what I called you in for, actually." He said with a smile.

"…I thought you just wanted to tell me about this Hayden girl." Mystogan said suspiciously.

"You needed a bit of backstory." Makarov said sheepishly. "Since we didn't tell you earlier…anyway! I want you to take a mission with her!"

Silence.

"Please tell me that I just misheard."

"Come now, Mystogan!" Makarov protested. "You can't be a hermit forever! Don't you want to settle down and have child-"

*BONK*

Makarov groaned, rubbing his now injured head and already feeling a bump begin to form.

He glanced up at the other mage, who was usually in perfect control, only to see a hint of a blush on the part of his face not covered by his mask.

"I am here to do my duty to this world." Mystogan said stiffly. "I have no time for things such as that."

"You need to get a girlfriend." Makarov muttered petulantly.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Mystogan hissed furiously, bending down to the master's level.

"Nothing!"

"That's what I thought."

* * *

"Hayden!" a voice called.

The girl in question glanced up towards the second floor, where she saw Makarov wave at her.

"Yes, Master?" she called.

"Could you come up here for a few minutes? I have something to discuss with you." The old man told her, before disappearing back towards his office.

Hayden shook her head fondly. He could have waited for her to answer.

"Better go see what that's about." Levy said with a giggle, knowing what Hayden was thinking.

"Right." Hayden said, standing up. "See ya later!"

"Good luck!" Levy called with a wave.

With that, Hayden calmly walked up the stairs to the second floor. It was still slightly odd being allowed to do so, as only S-Class mages could, and she'd only just gotten the title recently.

The last person before her to become S-Class was Mirajane, even though she had already retired…

As she arrived at Makarov's office door, she shook her head. Those weren't the kind of thoughts she should go into a meeting with.

* * *

"…Come again?" Hayden asked, wide-eyed.

"I would like you to go on a mission with Mystogan." Makarov repeated. "He has already agreed, if that helps."

Hayden took a moment to calm down.

Mystogan? The most isolated and mysterious member of Fairy Tail? And Makarov wanted her to go on a _mission with him?!_

"Why?" she asked promptly. "Mystogan has never teamed up with anybody, and I usually do jobs with Levy."

"Straight to the point." Makarov muttered. "Right. Well, you are of course aware that you came from a different world…"

"No, really?" Hayden said sarcastically.

Makarov pouted at her. "So is Mystogan."

This time the silence was longer.

"What?" Hayden gasped. "How? _Where_?!"

"When I was six I came here from my home world, Edolas." A voice came from the shadows, followed by Mystogan himself.

Hayden blinked at him.

"How?" She reiterated.

"My home world was running out of magic, and the king decided to use a magic portal to drain the magic from other worlds to use for himself. I disagreed, went through one of the portals, and ended up here." Mystogan answered.

Makarov raised an eyebrow. That was more than he'd ever heard Mystogan say in one go.

"Why would you go through the portal? Wouldn't something like that have restricted access?" Hayden asked.

Mystogan looked at her appraisingly. She knew the barest basics, yet she still asked the important things.

"I was the heir to the throne." He said, deciding to throw caution to the wind. After all, Makarov trusted her. "I was not subtle in my distain. He would have disowned me, and I had nowhere in Edolas to go. I knew that the portal—called the _anima_—led to another world, so I decided to try my luck. I cannot go by my given name, however, because in my world everyone has a counterpart here in Earthland, and mine is a bit high profile."

"A prince?" Hayden muttered, blinking, though she had no other reaction. Her eyes didn't even widen.

Mystogan smiled slightly. He appreciated that she wasn't making a big deal out of it.

"Right. Okay, I'm guessing Master told you a bit about me as well?" Hayden asked, turning towards the master knowingly, who shrugged.

"The basics." Mystogan answered. "Your name, that you come from another world as well, and that your magic works a bit differently."

"That's it?" Hayden asked, surprise. "Not even what kinds of magic I use?"

"He told me you are the Snake Charmer?" Mystogan tried.

"Well, yes, but—" she cut herself off. "Never mind, we'll go into further detail later. It's nice to meet you. My name is Hayden Potter."

"Likewise." The masked man replied, shaking her hand. "Mystogan, but my birth name is Jellal Fernandes."

Makarov looked at the two fondly. It looked like Mystogan was coming out of his shell a bit, realizing that he wasn't the only 'outsider' in this world, though Makarov certainly didn't consider them as such.

* * *

**Please review!**

**Don't worry, you guys will find out about their mission soon. And I'll cover what kinds of magic Hayden uses during her discussion with Mystogan, since he has no idea what kind she uses.**

**Yes, she is now an S-Class mage. She passed the year after Mirajane did (and Mira passed a year after Erza). Since she's two years younger than them and became one two years after Erza, she's tied with Erza as the youngest female to make S-Class. Probably won't bother writing about her exams.**


	9. Striking a Deal

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.**

**Note: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, life kind of got in the way, and I temporarily lost interest in the story. I'll try to be better about updating more frequently, though I make no promises.**

**Warning: Mystogan x Hayden (so far; the voting is closed), spoilers!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"So…" Hayden said awkwardly as Makarov shooed her and Mystogan out of his office so they could get to know each other before their mission. "What do you want to know?"

Mystogan tilted his head thoughtfully. "Makarov trusts you, so you're definitely not a spy, but…why can I sense the aura of one of the Oracion Seis on you?"

Hayden narrowed her eyes slightly, but there was only curiosity in Mystogan's voice, not accusation or judgment.

"Well, it started like this." She began to explain how she'd met the dark guild mage.

* * *

_Cobra's eyes widened as he overheard one of the villagers speak._

"_Did you hear?" she asked. "One of the mages in Fairy Tail can speak to snakes! She helped the kingdom negotiate a peace treaty with the snake demons by translating for them."_

"_Seriously?" the other gasped. "What kind of magic is that?"_

"_I don't know, I'd never heard of it. It must be really rare!"_

_The woman felt a gust of wind, but when she turned to look for what caused it, Cobra was already gone._

* * *

'_All I want…is to hear your voice.'_

* * *

_A day later, Cobra walked into the Fairy Tail guild hall._

"_Hello! Can I help you?" Mirajane asked with a warm smile, cleaning a glass._

"_I'm looking for the mage who can speak with snakes." He answered curtly, though Mirajane wasn't bothered by his attitude._

"_Ah." Mira said thoughtfully, setting the glass down. "I can go get her for you."_

"_That would be appreciated." Cobra muttered with a slight grimace. _

_He wasn't really used to using manners. They weren't exactly important in Oracion Seis._

_When the white-haired barmaid came back, a pretty girl with black hair and green eyes was following her._

"_You're looking for me?" Hayden asked, straight and to the point._

"_Yeah. Can we speak in private?" Cobra asked._

"_Sure, why not?" the girl answered, before leading him out of the building. "Hayden, by the way."_

"…_Erik." Cobra muttered in response. He wasn't in the habit of using his real name, but if he told her his alias then she might recognize him as being a member of a dark guild._

"_Nice to meet you." She said. "In case you're wondering, we left because there was a dragon slayer a few feet from us."_

"_Enhanced hearing." Cobra said, smirking. _

_How ironic._

"_Exactly." Hayden eyed him thoughtfully. "Like you."_

_Cobra froze. "Excuse me?"_

"_You're Cobra of the Oracion Seis." She said, tilting her head a bit. "The third generation Poison Dragon Slayer."_

"_How-" Cobra started, readying himself for an attack._

"_You've got the elongated canines of a dragon slayer, for one thing." Hayden pointed out, rolling her eyes. "You immediately knew why a nearby dragon slayer wouldn't be conducive to a private conversation. Your snake is hiding up on that building, and has been following us since we left the guild hall. That, and there are descriptions of you floating around, baka. Your appearance and clothing are kind of distinctive. I'm sure Mira recognized you, too."_

"_Great." Cobra growled. "So, now what? Are you going to attack me?"_

"_Nope!" Hayden denied with a grin. "I'm going to hear you out. If you brought your snake—"_

"_Cubellios."_

"_If you brought Cubellios with you to a meeting with a snake speaker, it's pretty obvious that it's for a reason." Hayden finished._

_Cobra eyed her cautiously._

"_I'm not going to attack you, or have any of my guild mates do so." She promised._

_Cobra frowned thoughtfully, glancing at Cubellios, who had revealed herself when she realized that she had been seen. The large serpent glanced at the girl calmly, and her body wasn't tense._

"_Snakes can sense deception…" Cobra muttered to himself, before turning towards the girl. "I want to know if there's a way I can learn whatever magic allows you to speak with snakes."_

_Hayden's eyes widened in surprise._

"_I don't think it is magic, actually." She said after a moment. "Or at least not the kind of magic you're talking about. To me, it's a language that I've always been able to speak and understand."_

_Cobra clenched his hand into a fist, frustrated._

"_But…the thing about languages…" Hayden pondered. "They're meant to be shared. I don't know if I can teach you, because I was never taught it myself, but I can try."_

"_Why would you help me?" Cobra asked bitterly. "I'm a dark mage."_

"_Well, for one thing, Cubellios has been adding her own two sense to our conversation." Hayden stated, skipping up onto the bridge. "She's pretty convincing. Besides, like I said, knowledge is meant to be shared. That applies regardless of whether or not you're a dark mage."_

_Cobra stared at her, before saying reluctantly. "I don't like being indebted to anyone."_

_Hayden bit her lip thoughtfully. "That dragon slayer I was mentioning earlier. First generation. His element is fire."_

"_What about him?"_

"_He's a hothead who's always ready for a fight, always looking to test his skills against people."_

"_You want me to fight him?"_

"_He's not always the best at fighting against elements that clash with his own. Lightning, for example." Hayden glanced at the sunset, thinking about Laxus. She had put together that he was a 2__nd__ Gen dragon slayer, but no one else seemed to. "I figure some practice would do him some good, especially against another dragon slayer."_

"_And why do you want to waste a favor on someone else?"_

"_It's not a waste." Hayden said, blinking in surprise as she turned back towards him. "He's nakama. Anyway, the fight can wait until after we see results in our lessons. That way you'll know that I'm following through on my end of the deal."_

_Cobra stared at her._

"_Tch. Whatever." He eventually muttered, before hopping back on Cubellios. "Tomorrow. In the woods."_

"_See you then!" Hayden called._

* * *

_What Cobra didn't know was that Cubellios had informed Hayden that the main reason Cobra had even joined Oracion Seis was so that he could search for a way to communicate with her. That had been Brain's promise to him. _

_If Cobra managed it without Brain's help…then he would have no reason to stay._

* * *

"And there you have it." Hayden finished. "That was a year ago. Once his lessons were over, he left Oracion Seis. Turns out he was only there in the first place so he could find a way to talk to Cubellios. Once he'd accomplished his goal, he no longer had a reason to stay. Of course, then he ended up here with Cubellios, and Master Makarov realized that she was actually a human who had been cursed, so...well, Cubellios is now Kinana. She didn't remember their time together immediately, but once she spent some time with him she began regaining those memories. They're traveling right now."

"Brain must not have been happy when they left." Mystogan commented.

Hayden grimaced. "Not from what he told me, no. He didn't let him go without a fight. He actually came here afterwards, and Porlyusica had to heal him."

"Porlyusica willingly healed someone who isn't in Fairy Tail?" the blue-haired man asked, surprised.

"She made him give her samples of his different poisons so that she could make antidotes for them." The girl explained. "He wasn't happy, but he was really bad off, so he didn't have a choice."

Mystogan chuckled slightly. "I don't blame him. I wouldn't appreciate being blackmailed into giving up my secret weapons, either."

Hayden nodded in complete agreement. "Neither would I. Speaking of, you haven't asked me what _mine_ are yet."

Meaning he still didn't know what she could do, aside from the whole 'speaking to snakes' thing.

Mystogan blinked. "Right. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Hayden smiled at him, and Mystogan suddenly felt as if he had passed a test he hadn't known he'd been taking.

* * *

**Please review!**

**I know Cobra's a bit OOC, but to be fair, he's younger than he was when we first saw him, and therefore hasn't been with Oracion Seis that long. He also knows that he can't act too much like an ass or Hayden might not agree to teach him. He's definitely not like he was after the time-skip because he hasn't had to deal with losing Cubellios.**

**Is it smart of Hayden to make a deal with a dark mage? Probably not. Still, I've always felt sorry for the kids who were trapped in the Tower of Heaven, and that of course includes Cobra. His main priority is Cubellios, not the Oracion Seis and their agenda. They're simply a means to an end, and since Brain hasn't followed through on his promise that he'll be able to hear Cubellios, Cobra isn't as loyal as he could be. The fact that Hayden might be able to teach him might weaken his ties to them further.**

**Is it too dangerous for Natsu to fight him, even in a controlled setting? I don't see why. He beat Cobra in canon. As for the poison, even Wendy wouldn't be there, Porlyusica would.**

**No, this isn't going to be a Hayden x Cobra thing. I like him with Kinana. It's Mystogan and Hayden, for now. Zeref **_**might**_** be added later on, but I haven't decided.**


	10. AN: Important Question

**Hello everyone!**

**I'm going to be honest here. I've pretty much lost all inspiration for this story. I have a very bad habit of not planning out my stories before I start uploading chapters on here, so I lose inspiration, motivation, and back myself into a corner idea and plot-wise pretty easily.**

**HOWEVER, I do have some scenes written for this that I'd written beforehand that I would've placed somewhere in the story had I gotten that far. They'll be random and probably a bit confusing (I'd do my best to explain my thought process when I wrote it), but that's what I've got.**

**So my question to you guys is: do you want me to abandon the main storyline and just start posting those, or should I just leave this story alone to pick up again in case I ever decide to try again, which is admittedly fairly unlikely?**

**If you guys want me to post the omakes, I'll have the first one up at some point tomorrow.**

**-RayvnAshes2**


	11. Omake 1: Lucy Joins the Team

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.**

**Okay. I'll post the scenes I'd originally written so I could try and include them later in the story (does that even count as omakes?) The main story will not continue for now. I will **_**consider**_** re-writing the entire thing (like I said, I ended up backing myself into a corner with this version) at some point, and if I do I'll post another author's note on this story letting you guys know. I also wouldn't mind if anybody wanted to adopt it or use some of the ideas, just PM me and let me know.**

**So for now I'll just post the omakes. I'll explain a few details that won't make any sense for the next ones, but this one is pretty straightforward. **

**Okay, here's the first one.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Hayden walked into the guild hall and raised an eyebrow when she saw Romeo hugging Macao tightly. Romeo wasn't usually so expressive.

"Did something happen?" she asked Mirajane, resident gossip, curiously.

The white-haired beauty glanced up, following Hayden's line of sight to see what she was talking about.

"Romeo had quite the scare the other day." The barmaid explained. "He was being made fun of at school, and shouted at his dad. Macao took it seriously, and went off to take care of a Vulcan. He was fine, until nineteen others showed up. The last one took him over."

"Ouch." Hayden grimaced sympathetically.

"Yes, Romeo was very worried, and we didn't know what happened, so we didn't send help." Mirajane said with a sigh. "Anyway, Natsu brought a newcomer to the guild, and they heard Romeo ask Master to help Macao, and Master refused. Natsu went after him, and Lucy went with him. Anyway, they managed to knock the Vulcan out of his body, and now Romeo is a bit clingy."

"Poor kid." Hayden said, smiling fondly at the pair. "So, the new girl's name is Lucy? And _Natsu_ brought her here?"

"Odd, isn't it?" Mirajane mused thoughtfully, wiping a glass clean. "Natsu doesn't usually do that. Yeah, apparently she helped him take care of someone who was going by Natsu's alias and using it to kidnap young women."

Hayden's fist clenched. "If Natsu would just let Jason take his picture, people would know what he looks like and stop falling for this crap."

"That's Natsu for you!" Mirajane giggled.

"What was the guy's name?" Hayden asked curiously. Impersonating a Fairy Tail mage was a very brave (or foolish) thing to do.

"Bora of Prominence." Mirajane answered promptly.

"The guy who was kicked out of Titan's Nose?" Hayden asked.

"The very same." Mirajane confirmed. "Anyway, he was using Charm magic. Lucy got caught up in it, but Natsu confronted Bora, and the spell broke. She thanked him by buying him and Happy lunch—"

"Definitely a good way to get on Natsu's good side." Hayden cut in with a grin.

Mirajane laughed. "Yeah. She mentioned that she was a mage and was interested in joining Fairy Tail, Natsu left, Bora later told her that he could give her a reference to help her get in and invited her to his yacht as part of the deal, he tried to drug her—"

"What?!" Hayden hissed.

"Lucy's smart, she figured out that it was drugged and didn't drink it." Mirajane assured her. "Anyway, he tried to attack her, and Natsu burst in."

"I thought they were on a yacht?" Hayden asked.

"They were." Mirajane said, shaking her head. "You can guess how that went."

Hayden snorted in amusement.

"So Happy took Lucy off the boat, but his Aera gave out and they fell in the ocean. Lucy is a Celestial Spirit mage, so she summoned Aquarius, and managed to get the yacht back to shore."

"Impressive." Hayden's eyebrows rose. Summoning a Zodiac took quite a bit of power, from what she'd heard. Most Celestial Spirit mages only summoned minor spirits.

Granted, there _were_ only twelve gold keys.

"Natsu ended up showing off and destroying a good bit of the town, though." Mira said, shaking her head. "When the Rune Knights showed up, he grabbed Lucy, and the three of them high-tailed it out of there."

Hayden laughed at that. Why did that not surprise her?

"I can't wait to meet her." She said with a grin.

Mirajane smiled warmly back. "I have a feeling that you two are going to get along just fine."

* * *

Lucy smiled at her new friend, Levy, who enthusiastically begged if to read Lucy's novel when she was finished writing it.

People usually looked down on her dreams of becoming a writer, so this change was greatly appreciated by the Celestial Spirit mage.

"Oh, there's Hayden!" Levy gasped suddenly as a girl about their age walked through the door. "Come on, I'll introduce you!"

With that, Levy grabbed Lucy's hand, pulling her with surprising strength towards her teammate and friend.

Lucy looked at the new girl shyly, hoping that she wouldn't mind that Lucy had been talking to Levy, who she was obviously very close to. That tended to happen in the circles she grew up in.

Hayden appeased her fears by smiling at her warmly. "Hi! Welcome to Fairy Tail. I'm Hayden."

"Lucy." The blonde said, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Hayden said with a grin. "Thanks for helping Macao. Romeo would've been crushed if you and Natsu hadn't managed to rescue him."

"Oh!" Lucy blushed. "Thanks, but it was really all Natsu. I summoned one of my spirits, but Natsu thought that he was a monster, so he took him out before he could really do anything."

"That's Natsu for you." Hayden said with a laugh. "Always acting before he thinks. Still, he's a good guy. He's basically Fairy Tail's mascot, at this point."

Her eyes widened as she realized what she said, and Lucy and Levy snickered.

"Don't tell him I said that!" she squeaked. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. Just, all of us love Fairy Tail, this is our home. But Natsu could talk for hours about how much this place means to him and how we're all a family—he's not wrong by any means, but he's more vocal in his pride than anyone else."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." Lucy mused aloud. "He didn't really say anything about Fairy Tail when I mentioned the guild after we met (before I knew that he was in Fairy Tail), but that seems to fit with his personality."

"Well, you mentioned that he was eating at the time, so I'm sure he was distracted." Levy said, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Probably." Hayden said, nodding in agreement before turning to Lucy. "Levy and I were planning to go on a job today, would you like to come with us?"

Lucy blinked in surprise.

She had just gotten back from her mission with Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza after subduing Lullaby, one of Zeref's demons. She was fairly tired, but…it would be nice to make more friends.

"Sure, why not?" Lucy answered with a smile. "Do you two already have a job picked out?"

"Not yet." Hayden said, shaking her head. "Levy was waiting until I got here. Shall we?"

With that, the three girls headed to the job board, ignoring Nab, who was hovering as always.

"Monster Hunt?" Levy suggested, not noticing Lucy balk.

Levy was _tiny_.

What was she doing hunting monsters?

"No, I just went on one of those." Hayden said, biting her lip as she scanned the fliers, not noticing Lucy's eyes bulge at that information, too. "Find a charmed bracelet?"

Lucy grimaced. "I'd rather not. Last week a guy used charmed jewelry to try to kidnap me."

"Fair enough." Hayden agreed, before pausing. "Here's one. Translating and transcribing ancient texts in the Library of Alexandria. 6,000,000 Jewels, plus traveling, food, and board."

"2 million each?" Levy asked, surprised. She scanned the flier. "This sounds interesting. Think of all of the scrolls and books!" She nearly drooled at the thought.

Lucy's smiled widely. "That does sound like fun. I'm not sure I'd be much help with translating, but I could definitely transcribe."

"I can help a bit with translations, but I think I'd mostly be transcribing, too." Hayden agreed. "And the area is frequently attacked by bandits, so I can definitely help there…"

With that, she took the flier and went to get their mission approved by Makarov.

"Bandits?" Lucy asked nervously.

Levy glanced at her new friend and smiled. "Oh, don't worry. Hayden will be more than a match for any bandits we come across."

"Really?" Lucy asked, biting her lip.

"Absolutely." Levy assured her. "Hayden is an S-Class mage. They're typically considered the strongest members in a guild, aside from the guild master."

"Woah!" Lucy said, eyes wide. "Seriously? She's that strong?"

"Mhm." Levy agreed. "She's tied with Erza for the youngest girl in Fairy Tail to make S-Class. She earned the title a few years ago."

Lucy was quiet for a bit after that. Hayden came back, and the three made plans to meet up tomorrow morning to catch a train.

As she walked to her new apartment, she thought about Hayden.

To be totally honest, the girl didn't look all that strong.

Oh, no doubt she was a beautiful girl. She had long black hair, kept up in a casual bun, with a few strands of hair framing her face. She had captivating bright green almond-shaped eyes, and thick dark eyelashes. Her lips were a bit plump, and a pretty pale pink. Her skin was pale, but not in a washed-out way.

The thing was, she was only about 5 feet, 3 inches tall, and couldn't weigh more than 95 pounds (AN: sorry for those on the Metric system, this is just what I grew up with). She was nearly as petite as Levy, even in the chest area.

'Well,' Lucy thought. 'Looks like the old saying is right. Don't judge a book by its cover.'

* * *

**Please review! :)**

**Levy is more confident than we see her in canon after the Phantom Lord arc, but this one hasn't had that happen to her, so she doesn't mind at all that there will likely be combat involved on getting to the Library of Alexandria. In her mind the opportunity is more than worth it.**

**Hayden is two years younger than Erza, and since she's tied with her for youngest to become S-Class, she obviously passed two years after Erza, and one year after Mira.**

**Lucy joined, and the Lullaby arc has already happened. Since she wasn't there, Natsu and Happy ended up going to Galuna Island alone, with Gray and Erza joining later on like in canon. They'll still accept Sagittarius' key to give to Lucy as a gift for when she gets back.**

**For now you guys can use your imaginations about what kind of magic Hayden has. Just note that she doesn't use brute force like Erza, and she's not invincible.**


	12. Omake 2: Gajeel's Attack

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Fairy Tail, or anything else I reference.**

**Note: okay, time skip again since it's just another bonus scene. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Gajeel glanced at the girl he was following.

"_Attack Fairy Tail."_ He remembered Phantom Lord's guild master, Jose, ordering him.

This tiny shrimp of a girl was the first Fairy Tail mage that he had come across, and she didn't look like she'd give him any trouble.

So completely helpless.

Was _this_ the kind of mage the renowned Fairy Tail produced? How on earth did they get their reputation as the strongest guild in Fiore?!

* * *

Levy's eyes widened as she sensed an attack coming at her from the mage who had been following her for the last hour, waiting for her to go to a more private area.

She barely managed to dodge the large iron structure that pulverized the ground where she had been just a second prior.

She glanced around to see a rather scary-looking man, about twenty years old or so, with red eyes, sharp teeth, and a long mane of black hair. His outfit was odd, dark colors, with some black feathers and metal.

Levy tensed as the iron pole shifted, but it sped back towards the man, whose entire forearm seemed to be made of iron. It formed a short blade.

* * *

He could see the intense intelligence in her large hazel eyes as she analyzed him.

This girl was smart.

He scowled slightly. Those kinds of people were pains in the ass (at least when combined with magic skills), regardless of how helpless they appeared.

Damn.

Maybe he was barking up the wrong tree.

* * *

"Who are you?" Levy demanded, taking note of his guild mark. Phantom Lord?

"Gajeel Redfox."

"The infamous Kurogane?"

Gajeel smirked in response, pleased that his rep preceded him.

"Why attack me?"

"Master Jose wants me to leave a message for the old coot who runs your guild." Gajeel answered.

"A message in the form of an attack." Levy repeated, eyebrow raised. "Destroying our guild hall wasn't enough? Is he trying to start a guild war?"

"Gihihi!" Gajeel did his signature odd laugh as he sent another attack towards the shrimp.

Levy huffed in agitation (she didn't like people ignoring her questions) as she jumped out of the way.

* * *

'_From the depths of the ocean the magnificent creature emerged…'_

The pavement under Gajeel's feet cracked, almost like an earthquake.

"What the hell?!" he growled, jumping away.

'…_raging at the arrogance of mankind...'_

A large, silver beast sprang up from the ground, and debris flew everywhere.

'…_who was this human to intrude upon her territory?'_

The beast looked at Gajeel with small, furious beady eyes.

'_THIS WOULD NOT BE TOLERATED!'_

* * *

Gajeel looked at the huge beast in shock.

HOW?!

All the shrimp had done was chant a few lines, and suddenly a fucking wyvern appeared and started to attack him?!

The Iron Dragon Slayer was no stranger to rare and unique magic (hell, he had it!), but this was something that he had never seen before.

He barely dodged the wyvern's attack, sending an Iron Dragon Roar at the thing. It merely shook its head, like it was swatting away an annoying fly, before sending its own roar.

Water.

Fantastic. Now he had to worry about rust.

His eyes widened as he glanced at the girl. He had no doubt in his mind that the water attack wasn't a coincidence. The shrimp had analyzed his iron magic and purposely summoned (or did she conjure?) a wyvern that could utilize an element that he would have trouble with.

Damn if that didn't impress him.

* * *

Unfortunately for Levy, this particular type of magic drained magic very quickly. It came down to whether or not Gajeel could last long enough for her magic to run out.

She lost.

The last thing she saw before fainting due to magical depletion was Gajeel hobbling towards her. At least he hadn't come out unscathed.

* * *

Two hours later, the other mages of Fairy Tail looked on in horror as Levy was taken down from the tree in the middle of Magnolia Park.

She wasn't injured, but she _was_ unconscious.

The black Phantom Lord symbol painted on her stomach spoke volumes.

"If it's a war they want, it's a war they'll get." Makarov said, magic seeping out of him to create a golden aura.

* * *

Gajeel grinned to himself as he nursed his injuries.

The shrimp might not look like much, but she was a feisty little Fairy.

* * *

**Please review! :)**

**Okay. So, the idea that Levy can read something and then bring that into reality like she just did is called being a Silvertongue (I figured since Hayden is a Parseltongue that could be a possible theme for their team) and the ability was taken from the Inkheart trilogy. The user is also able to read themselves _into_ a book, but I don't remember much of the details because I only read the series once and it was years ago. And I don't know if the user has to actually read directly from the book for it to work or if it will work from memory, but oh well.**

**The little incantation, chant, or whatever you want to call it that Levy said is completely made up.**

**As for why she wasn't using her Solid Script while Gajeel was fighting the wyvern, she needed her full concentration, and it was already draining her magic at a really high rate (it was a freaking dragon-like beast she summoned, so of course it was.)**

**I left Levy virtually uninjured so that Gajeel wouldn't have to deal with nearly as much guilt later on and so that she isn't traumatized by the experience and afraid of him because of it. And like I said at the end of the last omake, Levy's been going on more dangerous jobs with Hayden for a long time, so she's more used to combat and things like that, so I don't think she'd have been as affected even if it did turn out like in canon.**


End file.
